diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b72515f..09580f9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ build
 control
 dist
 setup.py
+.vscode/
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1bf4d57..0e00af6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,15 @@ VERSION=3.4.2
 BUILD=1
 
 PYTHON=$(shell which python2.7 || which python27 || which python2.6 || which python26 || which python)
+
+# Check if Python is found
+ifeq ($(PYTHON),)
+$(error Python 2.x needed but no python found at all)
+else
 PYTHON_VERSION=$(shell ${PYTHON} -c "from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_version; print(get_python_version())")
+$(info python: $(PYTHON) $(PYTHON_VERSION))
+endif
+
 
 prefix=/usr/local
 bindir=${prefix}/bin
diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/tests.sh b/tests.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755